Reviewing
Daniel Barski's recording would be every reviewers dream - I was
pleasantly surprised to find in the package with his recording,
a copy of the printed music to help facilitate my review, complete
with thorough information about the performer in English. So often,
I am sent recordings and the CD cover doesn't even provide any
information about the performer. Often, if there is information,
it is not in English. Once a company released a CD without saying
who the performer was! In that regard Daniel's "recording package"
is superb and well organized.
Daniel began studying the accordion
at the age of nine, mainly using the Sedlon method and focusing
primarily on standards and Polish folk music. Lessons were discontinued
at the age of 16 when Daniel joined the Navy. Daniel made no attempt
to play until 1995 at the age of 47. "I rediscovered the magic
of the accordion, and have since embraced it with a passion; however,
due to the unavailability of formal instruction (I live in a rural
area) I have pursued improvement through self-study, largely in
isolation..." I find this remarkable and inspiring that Daniel
basically self-taught achieved such a standard of performance.
Before I describe what's on the
recording I would like to explain the quite unusual way it was
recorded. Daniel's message "To The Listener" from the cover of
the CD would speak for itself the best. This is part of it:
"The music on this album was
recorded in my home studio with a multi-track recorder, a single
musician (myself) and a single acoustic accordion. For most of
the selections, one part of the piece was recorded to a track;
then, while playing back that track, another part was recorded
on a "parallel" track. The process was repeated for as many parts
as required to complete the piece. In this way, I was able to
record music that would normally not be possible for a soloist
to perform.
Although nearly all contemporary
recordings utilize a multi-track process it is usually in the
form of various musicians recording their parts to separate tracks,
which are then "mixed". Recordings containing orchestral works
performed solely by one artist using a single instrument are few.
This, of course, is not due to a lack of musicianship on the part
of other artists, but rather the nature of their instruments.
What makes this recording possible is the wonderful versatility
of the accordion....."
This recording does sound like an
accordion ensemble is playing and it creates quite an impressive
sound picture.The only reservation I'd have would be towards the
ability to use rubato in performance. It seems to me that such
a way of recording restricts the use of rubato's needed especially
in track 11 - "Melody" by Gluck.
The sound quality of the recording
itself is superb, the balance was just right and the amount of
reverb perfect. Engineering wise it is quite a masterpiece.
Daniel's performing style has a
special touch to it. He creates an atmosphere and there is just
something out of the ordinary to it. ****
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